Hybrid Social Work – Contested Knowledge, Fragile Collaboration and Social Citizenship

This prescient book examines the evolving hybrid nature of social work within modern welfare states. Expert authors discuss how human service providers engage with a variety of other providers and logics, such as medical, psychological, educational and law.

Drawing on case studies from Australia, Europe, and North America, chapters analyze the changing responsibilities of social workers, exploring their involvement in policy practice, epistemic communities, and interprofessional collaboration. Contributing authors demonstrate how practitioners navigate the challenges of medicalization, juridification, managerialism and shifting expectations. They highlight the key potential of interdisciplinary approaches to overcome entrenched fragmentations in the human service sector. Ultimately, the book argues that while hybrid social work is often sought after in Western welfare systems, it involves considerable complexity for professionals.

Presenting insightful perspectives on the interaction between social work practice and broader welfare state developments, this book is an indispensable resource for students and scholars in social work, social policy, political science, and the sociology of professions and organizations. It will also benefit political advisors and policymakers across the social welfare sector.

Edited by Ivan Harsløf, Associate Professor, Simon Innvær, Associate Professor, Dag Jenssen, Associate Professor, Wenche Bekken, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Child Welfare, and Social Policy, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway and Ingo Bode, Professor of Social Policy, Organisation and Society, Faculty of Human Sciences, Institute of Social Work and Social Welfare, University of Kassel, Germany